Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Replace the word "vampire" with "caster" and you're pretty much there. "Caster" is the term used in the story by the magic-wielding people to describe themselves, because they apparently don't like to be called witches, much like hipsters don't refer to themselves as hipsters, but there's no denying those thick-rimmed glasses. Or as the protagonist puts it, "Calling us witches is like calling the smart kids geeks or the athletes jocks." Am I the only one who is not at all offended by those terms?
Speaking of the protagonist, Alice Englert—who plays adolescent caster and town outcast Lena Duchannes—has only a couple more facial expressions than Kristen Stewart. The story is told from the perspective of Ethan Wate, the charming, good-looking teen who, despite uncanny academic ability, still manages to maintain popularity. Of course, this care-free mortal's life is turned upside down when he falls in love with the weird girl that everyone says bad things about, and he is thrust into the middle of a supernatural family feud that has apparently been raging for centuries without any normal people taking notice. ("Wait, are you sure you're not talking about Twilight?")
I won't bore you with too many details, because honestly, there are way too many to mention. The whole plot is full to the brim with ancient curses, secret pasts, evil relatives, and character connections that are never adequately explained. Maybe I'll just have to read the books to find out more, and yes, there are currently four installments in the Caster Chronicles, and this movie only covers book one, though there seem to be no plans to adapt any of the sequels. Now, I've seen many a story where the main character is drawn between good and evil, but this one pretty much hits you over the head with it. On Lena's sixteenth birthday, she will be claimed by mystical forces and her fate will be sealed as either a light or dark caster, no one knows which. She even has a tattoo on her hand that counts down the days until her birthday, in case she forgets. Only female casters are claimed in such a way, male casters can conveniently swap sides whenever they feel like it. So while being surrounded by relatives both light and dark trying to get her to pick their team, all Lena wants to do is make out with her new beau, though there is the worrying possibility that she'll suddenly want to kill him when she turns sixteen.
And did I mention that all this takes place in the Bible Belt, in the fictional town of Gatlin, South Carolina? The southern drawls don't add much to the movie and can get a bit annoying, especially from Alden Ehrenreich, who plays the male protagonist. For a movie trying to avoid the stereotypes associated with witches, they manage to throw in some very cliché southern belles, whose lord and savior Jesus protects them from the wickedness of people who don't smile all the time.
Anyway, summing up the plot with an unnecessarily open ending and a climactic plot twist that only M. Night Shyamalan could top, the story is rather unsatisfying, and my advice to the writer is, just simplify. This movie is clearly trying to fill a gap left in the lives of Twilight fans now that that series has ended at long last, and is only one of many to come, I expect.
From a movie perspective, it wasn't that terrible, the movie makers simply did the best with what they had. There were some very nice set pieces, and the lighting department certainly got a workout. Cinematography was so-so, and I can't say much for their soundtrack choices. Despite exemplary performances by A-listers such as Emma Thompson, Viola Davis, and the always impressive Jeremy Irons, the unfortunate truth is that casting famous actors can't redeem a film with a mundane storyline.
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I felt obliged to watch this movie because it falls within my self-proclaimed specialty of young adult fiction, but nothing about it stands out to me, and I've no plans to read the books any time soon. If you’re a Twilight fan, I encourage you to immerse yourself in this universe, but if you’re like most people and don’t really like this type of thing, don’t watch it; you’re not missing anything.
Story: 3/10
Acting: 5/10
Mise-en-scène: 6/10
Cinematography: 4/10
Soundtrack: 3/10
Score: 4.2/10
